Tag: News

Family Pyrate Day in Old Algiers Point on Saturday, March 25

Family Pyrate Day in Old Algiers Point

Treasures from the Point and Family Pyrate Day – Saturday, March 25
The Confetti Kids Treasures from the Point porch sale starting at 8 a.m. will be followed by a day-long family-friendly celebration of pirate culture hosted by Confetti Kids & the NOLA Pyrates starting at 11 a.m. in Algiers Point

Arghh, mateys! It’s the first annual Family Pyrate Day in Old Algiers Point, a family friendly event celebrating pirate culture in New Orleans.

Join Confetti Kids, Confetti Park and our mates of NOLA Pyrate Week for a swashbuckling good time on the Mississippi River in Algiers Point. SEE MAP There will be storytellers, musical performances, a pyrate market and cafe…games, demonstrations, and crafting, too.

Confetti Park Storytelling Stage

You can look forward to the sea shanties of The Whiskey Bay Rovers and the Confetti Park Players, and pirate tales spun by authors such as Dianne de Las Casas, John Couret, David Ray, Erin Rovin, Ol’ Chumbucket, Sam Staley, Zachary W. Mohr, and crafting with Karen Konnerth of Calliope Puppets.

Lots more piratical fun

Next door to the kids pirate cafe at Warren’s Corner at 601 Patterson is the 21+ pirate tavern, the Old Point Bar. There will be fun along the river all the way down to Larkin Playspot, including pirate merchants, magicians, historians, nautical knot lessons, and a neighborhood-wide treasure hunt co-sponsored by Hubbell Library. And it’s all coinciding with the Treasures from the Point sale of the century in Algiers Point (beginning at 8 a.m.)

Take what you can, give something back

All proceeds from Pyrate Day food sales, garage sales, and donation buckets go to building a new children’s park in Algiers. Want to help in other ways? Bring your old instruments to donate to children. The Hungry for Music bus will be parked at 601 Patterson to take donations! And bring canned food for the Algiers Point Lil Free Pantry and take a “pigture” with Coco the Pirate Pig!
More information about Family Pyrate Day
Katy featured as a “Mompreneur” in NOLA Family magazine

Look for Katy Hobgood Ray and the Confetti Park Players in the October 2016 issue of NOLA Family!

Katy is featured as a New Orleans Mompreneur in an article titled “Lullabies And Lagniappe” for her work as director of the choir and as a radio host/producer and book publisher.

The article talks about how becoming a mom to son Louis in 2011 and being part of a neighborhood community full of children developed her interest in children’s music and literature. Katy started collecting songs and folktales from around Louisiana(she has an MA in musicology) and parlayed that interest into a radio show. The article also talks about the beginnings of the Confetti Park Players. Thank you for the lovely feature, NOLA Family!
Confetti Park children’s media workshop featured on Examiner.com

Examiner.com has a feature story on Katy Hobgood Ray and Confetti Park, the children’s workshop based in New Orleans. The story, which is a Q&A format with interviewer Erin Rovin, was a great opportunity for Katy to talk about how the idea for Confetti Park came from living in Algiers Point, a place full of children AND creative adults.

“We have so many interesting people in New Orleans and Louisiana, and my neighborhood is a concentration of creative people: puppeteers, musicians, artists, writers, chefs, and children,” Katy said. “I created Confetti Park, the children’s media workshop, to bring together all of these creative people and children for special collaborations and inspirational learning and fun.”

Katy discusses the Confetti Park radio show and podcast, which features Louisiana kids music, stories, and interviews, and talks about the Confetti Park Players kids’ chorus which performs locally, has recorded in studios, and has collaborated with numerous local groups, adult musicians, practices songwriting, choreographs dances, and creates music videos.

In the article Katy also says, “If you are a Louisiana author or musician who’d like to be featured on Confetti Park, I would love to hear from you! I am also always looking for ways to collaborate with children and teachers to get more kids voices on the show, so teachers and other youth leaders, please contact me.”
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Katy Ray Engages Kids with Confetti Park Players
…..from Main Street News

The Confetti Park Players were recently profiled in the Spring 2016 issue of “Main Street News,” the newsletter of the Old Algiers Mainstreet Corporation. Thank you, Valerie Robinson, for the profile! We are very proud to represent our community through music.

You can view the newsletter here. Text of article is below.

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Preparing for stage performance

Katy Ray Engages Kids with Confetti Park Players

Katy Hobgood Ray moved to New Orleans from Shreveport in 2003, but she really started to find her groove after moving to Old Algiers in 2007. Today, she works with Confetti Park Players, an all-ages children’s choir that just received a Parent’s Choice Approved Award for its first CD.

“I’ve always been active in music, writing and performing folk, country and jazz,” explained Katy, who holds a Master of Arts degree in musicology from Tulane University and has hosted radio shows since her college days.

“I started writing kids’ songs when my son, Louis, was born in 2011,“ she said. “I got involved with Confetti Kids (an organization that supports children’s activities in the area) after I became a mom, and started doing music circles in Confetti Park. After a while, these became more formal, and we started calling it a choir.”

The first performance of the Confetti Park Players was at Charles Gillam’s Folk Art Fest in October 2014, and they’ve been going strong ever since. The group meets weekly to sing, make rhythms, learn traditional New Orleans songs, and practice the craft of songwriting. Katy described the songs as “a mixture of fun and whimsical originals by contemporary Louisiana songwriters, classic folk songs, nursery rhymes, jump rope jingles, fairy tales, and natural lore.”

A CD that came out in November 2015 titled “We’re Going to Confetti Park!” with songs about pirates, frogs, sno-balls, and Candy Land balls, featured a star-studded lineup of New Orleans musicians, including Johnny Vidacovich, Jon-Erik Kellso, Evan Christopher, Matt Perrine, Patti Adams, Beth Patterson, Tom McDermott, Roger Lewis, David Rosser, Brian Coogan, Tim Robertson, and others. Old Algiers folk artist Charles Gillam created the cover art for the CD.

Momentum for the choir continues to grow, Katy said. The kids have recorded some music videos and special sessions with AJ Loria and Ginger and the Bee, and the group will be appearing at Jazz Fest for the first time on Saturday, April 23, at 12:40 pm at the Kids Tent.

Other upcoming events include the following:
- April 16, 2016 – The Confetti Park Players will give an in-store performance at Euclid Records in the Bywater, 3301 Chartres St., 4 p.m., for International Record Store Day.
- April 23, 2016 – The Confetti Park Players will perform at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival! 12:40 – 1:25 p.m. in the Kids Tent.
- May 22, 2016 – 10:45 a.m. – The Confetti Park Players will perform at Algiers United Methodist Church, 637 Opelousas Ave.
- May 22, 2016 – 3:30 p.m. – The Confetti Park Players will perform at Mid-City Bayou Boogaloo. (NBC Kids Stage)
- June 11, 2016 – 12:30-2:00 p.m. – Katy Hobgood Ray & the Confetti Park Players at the Creole Tomato Fest! French Market. (Kids Stage will be located at the U.S. Mint, on the front lawn, Esplanade side)
Parents may contact Katy at confettiparkplayers@gmail.com or connect with her on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, at @confettipark. Or visit the website at https://confettipark.com/
New Orleans-created Confetti Park CD wins a Parents’ Choice Approved Award

We’re Going to Confetti Park! is an album

NEW ORLEANS-CREATED CONFETTI PARK CD WINS A 2016 PARENTS’ CHOICE APPROVED AWARD
CD featuring world-class New Orleans musicians collaborating with kids on Louisiana-inspired songs is honored for its wholesome entertainment value.

Contact: Katy Hobgood Ray, kathryn@bienvilleray.com

New Orleans, LA – April 11, 2016 —We’re Going to Confetti Park!, the first musical release from New Orleans-based children’s media workshop Confetti Park, has won a 2016 Parents’ Choice Approved Award. Link to award site

21 tracks include jump rope jingles and whimsical songs about pirates, frogs, snoballs, Roman candy, and other uniquely New Orleans experiences, all to a soundscape created by world-class musicians such as Johnny Vidacovich, Jon Erik-Kellso, Evan Christopher, Matt Perrine, Patti Adams, Roger Lewis, David Rosser, Brian Coogan, Tim Robertson, Sarah Quintana, and others.

The principal performers are Katy Hobgood Ray and the Confetti Park Players, an all-ages children’s chorus who meet weekly to sing, make rhythms, learn traditional New Orleans songs, and practice the craft of songwriting.

“This album sounds like a carefree, sunny afternoon in Louisiana, but it also sounds to me like many months of practice and recording with these kids,” says choir director Katy Hobgood Ray. “They have worked hard and I am proud of them. I am so delighted that the Parents’ Choice Foundation has honored us.”

Parents’ Choice Approved Seals are given on the basis of the production, entertainment, and human values they exemplify. A Parents’ Choice Approved seal indicates a wholesome product that helps children enjoy developing physical, emotional, social or academic skills.

We’re Going to Confetti Park! was recorded by Matt Aguiluz and Jason Rhein at Marigny Recording Studio and mastered by Bruce Barielle. It is available on iTunes, Amazon, Google Play and CD Baby. You can also order CDs from https://confettipark.com or buy them at Louisiana Music Factory, Euclid Records NOLA, Fleurty Girl, and Magic Box Toys in New Orleans.

Musicians featured on We’re Going to Confetti Park!
Patti Adams, Matt Aguiluz, Chuck Bee, Evan Christopher, Brian Coogan, John Doheny, John Haffner, Scott Albert Johnson, Jon-Erik Kellso, Chris Lane, Roger Lewis, Ted Lindsay, Tom McDermott, Paul McDonald, Michelle Nelson, Rick G. Nelson, Mr. Okra, Beth Patterson, Matthew Perrine, Sarah Quintana, David Eugene Ray, Katy Hobgood Ray, Jason Rhein, Tim Robertson, David Rosser, Greg Schatz, Dr. Sick, Michael Skinkus, Daniele Spadavecchia, James G. Thornton, Dylan Field Turner, Johnny Vidacovich.

Confetti Park Players featured on We’re Going to Confetti Park!
Lily Bell, Luna Bell, Keller Clark, Saura Duke, Dean Foster, Elisa McDonald, Charleston McLean, Millie Moffett, Hrilina Ramrakhiani, Louis Ray, Sadie Strong, Virginia Strong

About Confetti Park
Confetti Park is a children’s media workshop, weekly radio program and podcast based out of New Orleans. Our first children’s book, The Little Mouse Santi, was named by Kirkus Reviews among the Best Books of 2015 (and is winner of a Moonbeam Children’s Book Award).

About Parents’ Choice Foundation
Since 1978, Parents’ Choice has been reviewing and recommending quality children’s media and toys. To learn more about the Parents’ Choice Foundation, visit http://www.parents-choice.org/

MEDIA: E-mail Katy Hobgood Ray
Music Memory from Tommy Sancton

Tommy Sancton. Photo by Sébastien Chaillot

In this episode of Confetti Park, Tommy Sancton shares one of his earliest music memories from Preservation Hall, a musical venue in the French Quarter founded in 1961 to protect, preserve, and perpetuate traditional New Orleans jazz. There, Tommy heard the sound that would guide the course of his life.

Tommy Sancton has had an illustrious career as a journalist and musician. After studies at Harvard and Oxford, which he attended as a Rhodes Scholar, he began a 22-year career with Time magazine as writer, editor, and Paris bureau chief. Music has always been part of Tommy’s life. As he traveled the world, he never stopped playing his clarinet.

He also never stopped feeling the pull of home. In August 2007, Tommy left Paris for New Orleans. He now teaches at Tulane, continues to write, and plays and records frequently with numerous traditional jazz bands. Visit his website to learn more.

Tommy has a beautiful memoir called Song for My Fathers: A New Orleans Story in Black and White, published in 2006, which recounts his experiences at Preservation Hall and explores his childhood apprenticeship with clarinetist George Lewis and other musicians, as well as his relationship with his own father.
Announcing Confetti Park!

Confetti Park, an imprint of Bienville Ray LLC, will be releasing a slate of children’s media in the coming months. We are so excited about the lineup! We have a book, a mobile app, a musical CD, and fun videos! Lots more in the works, too.

Confetti Park celebrates the wonder of life offered to us every day through the prism of the childhood experience. These wonders are found in nature, architecture, food, soundscapes of the world, and in the spirits of the people we meet! And we love celebrating the unique culture of Louisiana and New Orleans.

The name for Confetti Park was inspired by a small playground in the heart of the Algiers Point, a scenic and sweet neighborhood on the banks of the Mississippi River in New Orleans.

Keep up with news on Twitter @confettipark.

Tag: News

Family Pyrate Day in Old Algiers Point

Confetti Park Storytelling Stage

Lots more piratical fun

Take what you can, give something back

…..from Main Street News

The Confetti Park Players were recently profiled in the Spring 2016 issue of “Main Street News,” the newsletter of the Old Algiers Mainstreet Corporation. Thank you, Valerie Robinson, for the profile! We are very proud to represent our community through music.

You can view the newsletter here. Text of article is below.